Ask Ill Gotten

[Gentis Freem]

With a gentle hum, the engine of the M-68 Landspeeder wound down, and with a satisfying hiss, the vehicle came to a stop. From the driver's seat Gentis Freem gave himself a handful of moments to take in his surroundings. For years he had worked here; for years, he had made this same journey every day to open up the Cantina.

Yet something about Taris in the early morning still captivated him.

Typically the ecumenopolis planet was a buzz of life and activity, but it was still at four in the morning. All of the planet's moons could be seen for ten minutes a day, held in the sky at the same time, equidistant from one another - after that ten-minute period came and went, only three would be visible as the sun rose and replaced them for a new day.

Gentis looked up at the moons and smiled. Despite everything Taris had been through recently, he still wouldn't live elsewhere. The Anabolic Myohypertrophic Stimulator had torn through the slums like wildfire, the Jedi had bombed the planet, and the Sith had oppressed it - but still, the spirit of his homeworld stood firm. Slowly the moons slipped away, the sun cresting the skyline to take their place.

He stepped out of his speeder, his hound at his side, and opened up the Cantina.

'Freem's Place' was his pride a joy. A little kernel of Tarisian hospitality, located in the heart of the industrial district. It didn't have a fancy entranceway, just a set of blast doors built into the side of one of the city's sub-level concourses, a sign across the door, underneath which - once open - another Klatoonian, his cousin Karga, kept watch. Once inside, the venue had a small porch with four tables in, another blast door and then a large round room with a circular bar in the middle. A droid usually staffed a circular cooking station in the middle of the bar.

Tables dotted the room, whilst a second room was found off to one side - a rectangular one. This was the 'Swoop Den', frequented by local gangers and gamblers; it held gambling tables and screens to watch the races on. At the back of the room, a locked door headed into a store room, with a flight of stairs leading to his office underneath the venue.

He turned on the lights, and music kicked to life. He activated the serving droids, all three of them, and the auto-chef. Pouring himself a caf, he turned as the morning staff arrived. Both Klatooinians nodded "Morning, lads. Karga outside?" they nodded again "Alright, Ganna, you're in the Den, Pallo, you're in here." he reminded them, handing them their stun batons from behind the bar as they went to their respective posts.

"Doors open at seven, but we won't be seeing anyone before then." he added, as his guest walked in, the bouncers dutifully ignoring the bosses business partner. "Caf?" he asked the man, fetching a cup from behind the bar.

 

[Levik Karn]

The hangar was empty safe for about a dozen TX9225 GAVw Combat Assault Tanks parked neatly in two rows of six. They had been transported to Taris in case it would come under attack again, but this was two years ago now and all they did was gather dust. Couldn't even do some leisurely target practice on a city-world like Taris. Lieutenant Karn often used the hangar as a side-exit at the end of his shifts because it allowed him to skip the security checkpoint and due to his rank they rarely dared to write him up for it.

He wore the shoes and pants of his Imperial uniform but had elected to wear a non-descript civilian jacket over the vest that displayed his name and rank with the Imperial Peacekeepers. It wasn't uncommon for Imperials on Taris to go home like this after a long shift. Especially if said shift had been in the peacekeeper armor all day. Yesterday's shift had gone far into the night as Levrik had made himself responsible for the proper catalogueing and boxing of the personal affects of a Sith Champion that used to reside here on Taris.

At the end of a long shift most people just went to bed, but for him the real work was only just about to begin as he approached Freem's place and exchanged a silent nod with his business partner's cousin.

His business with Freem went back a couple of years now, back when the Klantoonian still worked with the Scrappers Union and he preferred to sell certain scrapped items on the black market instead of handing it over to the local Imperial Authority that oversaw the scrap efforts. For a cut, Levrik agreed to look the other way. Eventually they managed to go so far as to sync work rosters to get the most of certain jobs like scrapping the Bridge of a Destroyer or Cruiser. It was a profitable arrangement neither of them wanted to stop once the union moved on to another planet and another battlefield.

"Give me two shots, black-" the tired imperial replied as he sat down at the bar in front of Freem. "-Credits know I need it." Despite the dark bags under his eyes, Levrik managed to chuckle at his own joke. Usually people said things like 'Force wills it' or 'By the Force' but Levrik didn't care for whatever mystical mumbojumbo those Sith spoke and simply exchanged the word 'Force' with 'Credits' whenever he could.

It wasn't until the hot caf was in front of him and the tired human looked around to make sure only Freem could see it, that he retrieved what appeared to be a red kyber crystal from the inside pocket of his jacket. "What you reckon?" he put it onder his hand and slid it over to the Klantoonian, "I think 40.000 credits with the right buyer. Maybe more if Lieutenant General Din is serious." he was referring to the Imperial warmaster and it did seem likely that red kyber crystals would become more rare in the coming years.. and what's rare would definitely increase in value.

@Nor'baal

 

[Gentis Freem]

Two shots? Gentis looked the Imperial up and down. Maybe that's what they have up top? the Klatoonian chuckled, pouring Levik a cup of caf, and holding the milk. Placing it down in front of him, the cantina owner listened to the Imperial's recent exploits - clearly, Lavik had also seen an opportunity in the changes the Empire had just imposed.

The last forty-eight hours had been disturbing for the Empire, especially for its citizenry. With a single instruction, thousands of people had had their citizenship revoked, and the Imperial command structure had changed, quite literally in an instant. Gentis had not noticed the impact on his own life however, nobody cared what happened beneath the upper-city hear on Taris. However, he'd already heard from his cousins that some of the families of force-sensitive children were no looking to get off-world.

Not to mention how their levels ISB inspector had been 'redeployed' in the past day. Gentis had known the man was a force-user, he had never hidden the fact. But he'd been a good ally to the business community here, he kept his kickbacks low and he stayed out of the way.

But now he was gone.

Gentis was slightly worried about who would replace him. Perhaps Levik could get a promotion? That certainly wouldn't hurt.

"Forty-thousand?" Gentis whistled "That's a good bit of scratch, especially now." he was already thinking of how that sort of money could be put to good use. No doubt there could be more coming their way as time went on, as more Sith decided to comply with the order and turn their crystals over, or others who wished to use them for their own nefarious reasons.

Gentis was sure that many of the Sith Order would not take this move lying down. A civil war was almost guaranteed, and there was money to be made by supplying anyone and everyone who wanted specific things that others could not get their hands on. He and his Imperial business partner could get their hands on a considerable amount of desirable merchandise.

"There are a few collectors who might be looking for something like this. Or we could move them off-world, get's it out of our back yard, and we still get a payday?" he replied. Taking a drink of his Caf, Gentis reached for a pack of stims, and offered one to his business partner. "If we move it off-world, we could try fence it to a collector there? Personally, I'd suggest we flog it to a dealer, here, and then it's out of our hands. Can you get your hands on any more?"

 

[Levik Karn]

Levik was glad his business partner was excited enough to whistle, so he took his time to sip his extra strong caf while the Klatoonian put his brain to work. Gentis had never told him he couldn't move something before. The man had good connections on Taris and didn't shy away from the more risky goods to launder or fence.

"Off-world has preference," Levik stopped sipping for a moment to retrieve the communicator that was buzzing in his jacket, -Buzzing- one of the other peacekeeper lieutenants was on the line, "Lieutenant Karn, sorry to call you, you were probably just about to head in." if they had been on holo together she would see him sitting at a bar and -considering his disciplinary record- still wouldn't think much of it. His drunken antics and showing up for duty intoxicated hadn't been planned at all, but they sure came in handy during times like these. "Yeah, long shift. What can I do for you Lieutenant Eres?"

It was silent for a moment and then the static returned, "Imperial Command is requesting peacekeepers from Taris to aid in deregulating the Sith from power. Commander Venn selected you." raising his eyebrows, Levik looked at Gentis with a mixture of surprise and utter disdain. Commander Venn had written him up for his drunken behavior four months ago and just didn't let it go, selecting him for all the shit jobs like -apparently- actively facing down Sith Champions and Masters. "Great. When do I leave," he sighed. It was best not to say what you think over comms for you never knew if the ISB was listening. "Four hours. Your shuttle will take you directly to the ISS Intrepid."

Levik killed the line and pocketed the communicator once again. "I'll leave the kyber with you. Get it offworld, minimum of forty and we'll split it sixty-forty." He didn't usually only give himself sixty percent since he ran all the risk of procuring these kind of items, but he had to trust Gentis to sell it in his absence. A bigger cut worked well for motivation. "We still sitting on those decommission rifles?" he asked the Klatoonian. A month ago he had arranged for Gentis and his cousin to pick up a crate of rifles that were going out of use for the peacekeepers. The Empire innovated a lot and someone higher up the chain had bought new rifles from BlasTech, so the old ones had to be returned to storage on Raxus. Swiping it wasn't hard, but someone on Raxus had noticed they were a crate short and that forces Gentis and Levik to sit on it for a while before attempting to sell it. "This might be the perfect them to sell them, too. What was the cut on that one again?"

@Nor'baal

 

[Gentis Freem]

Things where moving quicker than Gentis had initially imagined. It appeared that the recent declarations from the Empire had effectively flipped the table, metaphorical cards and credits thrown across the place. He smirked as Levik took the call, keeping himself as silent as he could so as not to interrupt.

Whilst Levik conducted his official business, Gentis got to work on the sideline the officer had. He waved down his cousin, who sauntered over, never looking at the Imperial Officer - who, as he had been told, was not there. Gentis wrote down a set of instructions on the back of a beer mat, a layover of simpler times that seemed to appeal to his customers.

His cousin nodded and left the room. Gentis room the kyber crystal from the bar top and then used his lighter to burn the beer mat, removing any trace of evidence as to his next steps. From here the crystal would find itself swept away to a friend of his, it would be sold to a smuggler, who would whisk it out of the system and off to a collector who, no doubt, would pay a small fortune for it.

Sixteen thousand credits would be Gentis', the remainder he would return to Levik, at a dead drop as with their other deals.

"You want to move on them now?" he exclaimed as the officer brought up the rifles. That'd been a deal he'd not expected to close for weeks, if not months. Perhaps the Imperial had a point. The shakeup would mean imperial resources were spread thin, the prime time to get them sold. Right under the Empire's nose

Briefly, he considered misleading Levik as to the previously agreed split. It wasn't worth it. "Thirty-seventy." be pointed to himself and then to Levik, indicating the larger share would go to the Imperial. "Look, we've got an opportunity here. I've seen the holos, everyone down here knows things are changing. The gangs are getting restless, they know the nala-roost has been jumped, they want to start making moves. But we could move first. If you can get me more Kyber, more of anything those Sith are leaving behind, we could call in whole camtomos of credits moving those alone. The muscle that buys, and the gear for that muscle, me and the boys can slap the other gangs silly." he paused.

The opportunity this crisis presented them both was immense, and they both needed to be able to make the most of it. Sure, the risk was considerable, but with credits, muscle, and the clout and acumen the two of them possessed, they could take the world by storm.

"We can step up. What do you think? You surely don't want to be running missions like that forever? I can set you up with a hit that'll get your bosses on, wherever they are, to bump you up the chain - and then we can start making some serious change."

 

[Levik Karn]

Gentis always proved to be smarter than he looked. It wasn't personal, but something in the Imperial training regime always made you look at aliens as being different. Even lesser, perhaps. When they first starting working together, Levik had seen the Klatoonian as a means to an end and yet had become more and more impressed by him. Would he risk his own skin to protect him? Probably not. For Gentis is was probably the same way. An Imperial officer who sells him items he wouldn't be able to get his hands on in a million years otherwise. If the Imperial gets caught? Better dead than captured.

It seemed the Klatoonian valued his imperial connections, because he didn't try to mislead him on the divide. The lieutenant nodded to confirm their split and then lit up a cigarette as he listened to Gentis' proposal.

"The Sith were useful to keep the gangs in line," he lamented. Sure enough, no gang had tried to make moves to rule the underworld while there was the threat of an all-powerful Force-user with a proclivity for torture and the massacre of entire blocks. With that threat gone.. Gentis was making the right assumptions. Levik thought it over as he smoked and occasionally flicked some ash in the nearby ashtray.

"The hit will need to be convincing," he mused, "ISB counter intel will be monitoring everything and if we want them to think Imperial control of Taris is a certainty-" only a very careful yet significant blow to whatever threatened order and peacekeeper authority would suffice. Something like that wasn't easy on strictly-regulated Imperial worlds. "-kriff it. Take my cut of the crystal to buy off whoever needs to be bought off."

He pushed the cigarette into the ashtray to kill it and shoved his empty mug in the Klatoonian's direction to say he wanted another one. "Say I get my hands on more of them," he began, expecting Gentis to fill up his mug in the meantime, "what's your plan?"

@Nor'baal

 

[Gentis Freem]

Gentis' eyes lit up as the Imperial Officer strongly suggested that he had access to more of the precious crystals that looked likely to line his bank account. With the credits they secured, Gentis could supercharge his Gotra, moving beyond just fencing what they could scrape together and onto the big leagues. If he was really clever, maybe the Gotra could take on the swoopers?

He dared to dream.

"You keep me flush with these beauties, and we can move up whole levels." Gentis practically drooled as he spoke "I can get as much as you can give me to the buyers, and with the cash that brings in, I reckon we can fly under the radar for such a large amount of product."

He'd already had an idea for how to use that income. It served his interests to ensure that whatever score they set up for the ISB agent was massive. After all, having an offer was handy; having a planetary supervisor on side was a godsend. The Klatooinian produced a small holo-projector from behind the bar and placed it between them.

"Let me show you what these credits can buy." the projector flickered into life and showed a map of the docks. Gentis tapped to sections, which glowed red and green, respectively. "The Mynocks control this section, a mixed gang, and this," he tapped at the green section "- that's controlled by the Cintarin Wanderers. Klatoonian band, primarily."

He kept the projector on as he continued to explain. "Now, yesterday evening, I'm doing the rounds, making sure my top patrons are well looked after. A young noble, she stands out here like a sore thumb, comes up to me, and asks to speak to me in the office. Now, I'm thinking I'm about to get lucky," he laughed and slapped his hand on the bartop "- or she's the finest assassin I ever did see. Anyway, the door shuts, and she breaks down. Wailing about some kids in her care, all got that force thing your boss just started regulating. She wants them off-world." he refilled his caf.

"Now I'm a sucker for a quick credit, but this screams 'to risky'. So I passed the deal on, for a small finder's fee, to the Mynocks and the Wanderers. It's going down soon, two speeder trucks of illegals being shipped off the world. Right from these docks." he puffed his chest out, pretty proud of the level of Dejarik move this was turning out to be.

"You could move in on the Mynocks, snatch them red-handed. But, I can move tonight; my boys can whisk the Wanderers stash away, move them to the Mynocks warehouse - in and out, no biggie. Then, when you move on the Mynocks, I can tell the Wanderers that my Gotra, as a favour to a fellow Klantooinian outfit, saved their hides from the scary ISB." he tapped the projected map again, and it turned a different colour - yellow, his colour.

"They get to understand how the pecking order works; you catch my meaning?" he snickered, taking a drag on his stim, as let his business partner ask any questions.

 

[Levik Karn]

Levik made a mental note to never underestimate Gentis Freem. The Klatoonian was calculating, to say the least, and catching a group of runaway Force-sensitives belonging to Tarisian upper citizens was a career-making move. He could almost see Commander Venn begrudgingly pinning a medal on his chest and calling him his peer. "You'll have the biggest Klatoonian gang on the planet," the lieutenant smiled as he took a slow sip of his coffee, trying to mull it all over. "and I'll have disbanded the Mynocks, a warehouse filled with stolen goods and proof of disloyalty for over a dozen upper level imperial citizens." and then the sector supervisor would report to the Director that 'all was well on Taris'.

Not to mention that some items in that warehouse could easily go missing during processing, which in turn could line their pockets even more. "Is it in motion," Levik shot back his caf, "if it is then we cannot wait" the Imperial's brain thought ahead. He was meant to be on the ISS Intrepid in four hours, but he could push it back a bit if he made up some infractions and equipment issues. The expulsion order had barely gone through last night, so if you add mobilization efforts during the embargo's and a multi-front skirmish with Force-sensitives, then that chaos allowed some room to exploit. "I can push my departure to midnight, so it'll have to happen before then."

@Nor'baal

 

[Gentis Freem]

They would need to move swiftly if Levik was expected to be off-world on an Imperial mission by midnight. Gentis was pleased that the Imperial had bought into his plan, a cunning move to secure control of the docks, a warehouse of stolen goods, and leverage over a collection of the Empire's upper echelons as well. Not to mention the finders fee the same gangs he was now turning on had already sent his way.

Credits and the removal of rivals. What wasn’t to like?

”We should move fast.” Gentis replied, a sense of urgency about him. ”Pluck your mynocks after the rains-fall, as my sainted mother used to say.” Gentis’ mother had been a menace, controlling one of the local swoop gangs with an iron fist, and a temperament to match.

Inspirational really.

”Take this.” he slid an unregistered communication across the bar-top. ”My boys will get the goods in position. You need to strike any time past seventeen-hundred hours. Then two clicks on this, and I’ll sweep in to ‘rescue’ the other gang.” he stood up, checked his chrono and started toward the exit.

At the door he turned back ”I don’t hear two clicks, and I’m assuming it’s a bust gig. But, that won’t happen will it?” he asked, as the door slid open ”Cafs on the house buddy!” he shouted back, his sentence tapering off into a chuckle, as he hopped in his speeder to get his part of the ‘mission’ out of the way.